LPN Licensure by Exam Foreign Program

LPN Licensure by Exam Requirements

Submit an application for licensure by examination and fees (cashier’s check or money order.) The application fee is $105.00 and the Criminal Background Check fee is $32.00. The fees are non-refundable. The application packet may be downloaded from the Minnesota Board of Nursing website or you can submit the application and fee online. https://mn.gov/boards/nursing/licensure/apply-for-a-license/apply-by-exam.jsp

Provide evidence you have not engaged in conduct warranting disciplinary action; if you answer yes to any questions in the Grounds for Denial section of the application, the Board will investigate prior to licensure.

Watch for the Criminal Background Check program office to send you a fingerprint packet by email. Follow the instructions and submit your fingerprints as soon as possible.

Submit a completed Confirmation of Program Completion from your nursing program. If you have completed a Minnesota nursing program, a school official can confirm completion on-line. Paper forms must be submitted to the Board directly from the Nursing Program.

Register with Pearson Vue to take the NCLEX® (National Council Licensure Examination) and pay the required fee.

Register by phone by calling NCLEX® Candidate Services at 1.866.496.2539

Send notification to the Board office as soon as possible if any change occurs in your name, address, or other application information after you submit the application. Submit legal proof of change in name, such as a copy of a marriage certificate or court order.

Watch for the test service to send your authorization to test (ATT) by e-mail. To gain access to the NCLEX, you will be required to present one form of acceptable identification. The first and last name on your identification must match exactly the name you provided when registering.

Schedule the examination at one of the testing centers after you receive an authorization to test (ATT) from the test service. The ATT is valid for 90 days. If you do not take the examination within one year of receipt of your application, your application with the Board, will be nullified. If you do not take the examination within 90 days of receipt of your ATT, your registration with Pearson Vue will no longer be valid.

Watch for your license. The Board will mail your license approximately 10 business days after you take the examination. If you do not pass the examination, you will receive an EXAMINATION RETAKE REQUEST packet and a diagnostic profile to help you understand your performance on the NCLEX® examination.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR APPLICANTS WHO COMPLETED A NURSING PROGRAM MORE THAN FIVE YEARS AGO

REQUEST FOR SPECIAL TESTING ACCOMMODATIONS

Indicate your request for special testing accommodations for the NCLEX® by completing the Request for Special Accommodations section on the LICENSURE BY EXAMINATION APPLICATION.

Submit supporting documentation regarding your request for testing accommodations due to a disability. At a minimum the documentation must include:

a letter from an appropriate professional confirming the disability and providing information as to what accommodations are appropriate; and

a letter from the Disability Services department of your school indicating what modifications, if any, were granted by the program.

List the specific accommodations you are requesting. Examples of modifications include:

separate room

recorder

reader

signer

extra time (state specific amount of extra time you are requesting.)

Call NCLEX® Candidate Services at the telephone number listed in the ATT letter when you are approved for testing with special accommodations and have received your ATT.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR APPLICANTS EDUCATED IN CANADA

Submit verification of licensure from the original Canadian province in which you were first licensed and the U.S. jurisdiction in which you were most recently licensed as an RN. The verification must be sent directly from the licensing board to the Minnesota Board of Nursing.

Submit an official transcript if you are not or have never been licensed in Canada, from your Canadian nursing education program or a Confirmation of Program Completion form. The transcript or confirmation of program completion form must be sent directly from the school of nursing to the Minnesota Board of Nursing.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR APPLICANTS EDUCATED IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY OTHER THAN CANADA

Submit a Credentials Evaluation Report. A nursing education program determined to be equivalent to the education required in the same type of nursing education programs in the United States as evaluated by a credentials evaluation service.

Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) - Credentials Evaluation Service (CES) Professional Report. Request CGFNS send the credentials report to the Board. Forms are available on the CGFNS website.

Pass an approved English proficiency test. Unless you graduated from a nursing education program conducted in English and located in an English-speaking country.

Test of English as a Foreign Language (score of 84 with a minimum speaking score of 26 on the TOEFL iBT.) Request the Education Testing Service to send the TOEFL report to the Board using the Minnesota TOEFL code of 9416.

TOEFL Services

P.O. Box 6151

Princeton, NJ 08541 USA

1.877.863.3546 (inside the United States, US territories and Canada) 1.609.771.7100 (outside the United States, US territories and Canada)

International English Language Testing System (IELTS Academic overall score of 6.5 with a minimum of 6.0 all modules). Request the International English Language Testing System send the Academic Test Report Form to the Board.

Michigan English Language Assessment Battery (MELAB total passing score of 81 and a speaking section score of 3). Request Cambridge Michigan Language Assessments (CaMLA) send the official MELAB score report to the Board by listing the Minnesota Board of Nursing at the bottom of the MELAB Official Identification Form before taking the test.

Countries exempt from English proficiency or English testing requirements:

The Board determines who may provide an acceptable credentials evaluation and the two acceptable services, CGFNS and IERF, have determined the following to be countries exempt from English proficiency or English testing requirements, if their entry-level professional education (with language of textbooks and verbal instructions in English) was from the following countries:

Applicants from any other country must pass an English speaking proficiency exam.

The Minnesota Board of Nursing application fee is non-refundable. You may want to complete the credentials evaluation and English proficiency exam before applying for licensure with the Board of Nursing. If the Board has not received the credentials evaluation and a report of a passing score on the English proficiency exam within one year of your application, the application will be nullified, and you must apply for licensure and submit a new fee.

By phone. Pearson Vue provides the phone number with your authorization to test (ATT). There is a fee for the phone results service.

EXAMINATION RETAKE REQUEST APPLICATION

Submit the EXAMINATION RETAKE REQUEST within eight months of the last failed examination. You must retake the examination within one year of the last failed examination or your application will be nullified and you will need to reapply.

If you have not registered to access the site, register and follow the prompts.

If you have registered with the site, log in and apply for licensure retake.

Watch for the test service to send your authorization to test (ATT) by e-mail. To gain access to the NCLEX, you will be required to present one form of acceptable identification. The first and last name on your identification must match exactly the name you provided when registering. The ATT is valid for 90 days.